Motivation
by Miss Junie
Summary: What is it that motivates us to do something? Artie and Tina are the subject of the Glee club's attention following Stutter-gate, and plans are hatched to reunite them. Will it work, and what will they do to motivate the couple back together?
1. Prologue

**Author's note:** Well, this is a random idea I came up with the other day, um, hope you enjoy it! As you can all tell, I'm feeling particularly eloquent today! Also, this is the Prologue, so it will be shorter than the rest of the chapters. Love to hear opinions!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, STILL not mine!

* * *

"I hereby call this meeting to order," Kurt stood at the front of the Glee club members – minus Artie and Tina – along with Mercedes.

The rest of the group looked around confused. "Um, what exactly are we here for?" Finn asked with a confused expression.

Sectionals had happened last week and the group was still on their high from winning. There were still problems granted, baby-gate had split Finn, Quinn, and Puck drastically. Finn and Quinn had broken up, but were tentatively reaching a friend status. Puck was trying to help Quinn as much as possible, and was somewhat achieving that. Finn and Rachel had tentatively begun dating, and things were going well, but tentatively.

"We are here because we need to discuss the problem of Artie and Tina." Kurt said pompously.

"What's the problem with Artie and Tina?" Puck said with his eyebrow raised.

"The problem is that they were this group's tightest friends, aside from me and Kurt," Mercedes gave him a wink, "But since stutter-gate, there have been issues."

Everyone in the group gave each other a knowing look. Tina had confessed that she had been faking her stutter, and it hadn't really affected anyone in the club. They had known Tina's shyness and since joining Glee, she had come out of her shell like no other. They all understood why she had done it though, and hadn't judged her for it.

Artie had been a different matter. He had told her on the night that she had confessed that he couldn't understand why she had done it, and he didn't think he could trust her again. He had cooled off a couple of days later, and they had made up their friendship, but things still were awkward between them. Their romantic relationship was no way near what it had been, and it didn't seem as though they would achieve that status again.

The awkwardness between the two former best-friends was noticeable by everyone in the club. When they sang "Lean On Me," and Tina and Artie had turned to each other while singing, there had been a brief electrified moment, and then they had turned away awkwardly. During "My Life Would Suck Without You," the same thing had happened.

During hang-outs after Glee practice and when they would hang out at each other's houses, there was a tangible tinge of awkwardness between Artie and Tina and a discernible distance was kept. They were slowly patching up their friendship, but it was just...awkward. The fact that it was obvious to everyone else in the club made it even worse.

"Ah," Brittany said, "Is it because they didn't find the mallard?" Santana shushed her quietly, and Mike put his arm around her.

"We need to get them back together, it's just sad watching them," Rachel said quietly. Everyone knew what she meant. It seemed that no matter what happened with Glee club, or the drama that was going on, Tina and Artie being together and making other people feel okay or helping others was their constant. They were the core of the group, and this awkwardness was making everyone uneasy, and it made them determined to do something since Tina and Artie had done so much for them.

"What we need is a plan to get them back together," Kurt said with a determined face, "Which is why we have called this meeting. Thoughts?"

"Couldn't we just tell them to get back together?" Santana said.

Quinn shook her head, "We can't just _tell _ them to do something. That's not going to work. Especially as they are already back together in a sense, and I'm sure they won't want us interfering directly."

"But what about _in_directly?" Brittany said solemnly, "That's right, right Mike?"

"She is right," Rachel nodded her agreement,"We need to do this subtly, so they don't suspect what's going on."

"And the best way for subtle, is not talking to them about it, but actions," Puck startled everyone by speaking up.

"What do you have in mind?" Kurt said slowly.

"What motivates guys most when it comes to girls?"

"Looks?" Matt suggested.

"Sexiness?" from Santana.

"Intelligence and talent?" came from Rachel.

"Yeah, but we know Artie already loves all those things about Tina, but we need to get him to act on them. To push him to do that, he needs to be jealous."

The group exchanged a couple of shocked glances. They knew Puck was right in a sense, but for him to be the one to say it was, pretty weird.

"He is right," Santana said. "I always look my best when I'm trying to make someone jealous, and I'm more likely to attract people because of what I do because I'm trying to get them."

"Well, how do you propose we make Artie jealous? And that still leaves Tina out of it." Rachel asked Puck.

"Hell, I don't know, I came up with the first bit, now it's your guys turn!" Puck said, slouching back down into his chair.

"Artie's a tutor right?" Quinn said slowly.

"Yeah, he tutors Math, and Science. He's amazing in them, and he finally got me to pass one of my tests!" Brittany said excitedly.

"So is Tina as well, right?" Quinn said again.

"Yeah, she does History and English," Finn said, knowing from first-hand experience when she had helped tutor him in the 10th grade.

"What are you thinking Quinn?" Rachel asked.

"Let's face it. We know Artie adores Tina, and Tina adores Artie. And we also know that he was upset by her faking her stutter, but they're back to being friends, but dating isn't something that either of them want to bring up again. However, we do know that they still really want to date each other, otherwise we wouldn't keep seeing those adoring glances they stare at each other with when they don't think anyone else is watching." Quinn stated matter of factly.

"So, what are you proposing then Quinn?" Kurt asked after everyone was giving each other somewhat confused looks.

"Like Puck said we need to push them together, and the only way we're even going to get Artie to consider dating Tina is if we make him jealous."

"Yep, I already _said_ that," drawled Puck.

Quinn continued as though he hadn't interrupted, "Both of them tutor, and I think it's prime-time we give them some students. Wouldn't you agree?" she said with a sly smile.

Everyone suddenly gave oh's of understanding, "What exactly are you proposing?" Mercedes asked with a smile.

"Puck, how's your math grade?" Quinn asked.

"Santana, how's your history grade?" Mercedes asked slyly.

* * *

And what will the plan be? Stay tuned to find out!


	2. The Plan Begins

**Author's note:** Ho hum, why are these alerts and whatnots going funny again? I'm not sure either. But, thank you so much to all of you already working your way around these problems! Hopefully this chapter answers a few questions, and will probably give you a few more! Thoughts are much appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** You know what I'm going to say, it does not belong to me.

* * *

"So, you're probably wondering why you're both here," Miss Pillsbury looked at Artie and Tina expectantly. They had both been called to her office during their first period, and hadn't received note about what it was about, just that they were needed. They both shared the first class – Spanish, with Mr. Schuester – and had seen they both had the exact same time, so it was a bit nerve-wracking wondering what Miss. Pillsbury was going to talk to them about.

"Sort of," Tina said nodding her head, and her Artie shared a quick smile at the weirdness of the situation.

"Well, as you both are aware, you are both excellent tutors in our program. We have some new students that need tutoring, but they are both...needing some extra attention and care." Miss. Pillsbury said carefully.

Artie and Tina looked at each other again. They had experienced all kinds of students throughout their days tutoring at McKinley High, from the jocks who had thrown slushies in their faces, to students panicking that they had received an 89%, and not a 90%.

"What do you mean Miss. Pillsbury?" Artie asked.

"What I mean to say, is that both students are friends of yours, and both are in need of a lot of catch-up to pass their classes. They need help in math Artie, which is why you're here, and in history Tina, which is why you're here. Since they both need help in those subjects, and you two are our best tutors, we came up with a compromise. It's not been done before, and we can understand if you say no, but have a think about it."

Tina and Artie looked at each other nervously.

"What we'd like you two to do is set up times between all 4 of you that would work out, in which you would be studying History one night, and Math the next. It is a boy and girl, so we feel the influence you would both have would be calming to both students and it would aid them in studying. Of course, you are welcome to split up some tutoring sessions, so you can have 2 lessons to yourselves each week, and 2 together. What do you think?"

"It wouldn't be a problem Miss. Pillsbury. Tina and I are great friends anyway, and if it helps the other students, we don't mind in the least," Artie said earnestly.

"I'm cool with it too. It'll be cool seeing math being tutored, and we'll definitely be able to help each other out!" Tina said with an awkward smile.

"Perfect!" Miss. Pillsbury beamed at the pair, "Now, the last thing is that they are both students that you already know, and are friends with. It's Noah and Santana."

"From Glee?" Tina squeaked. As much as Glee had progressed their relationship with the two, this was the guy who had slushied her every chance he could get, and the now head Cheerio.

"Yes," Miss. Pillsbury looked anxious, "Will that be ok?"

"That's fine Miss. Pillsbury," Artie said, placing his hand on Tina's comfortingly. Then he remembered, and quickly took it away, "Piece of dirt," he said awkwardly.

"Great! So you guys will start tomorrow after school!"

* * *

At lunch another Glee meeting – minus Artie and Tina – was held.

"So what's the news Noah?" Rachel smiled brightly at him.

"We're golden. Miss. Pillsbury has assigned us both Artie and Tina, and we're going to be doing 2 joint sessions a week, and 2 independent sessions. Perfect for planting those green seeds!"

"Santana, what did Miss Sylvester say about missing that Cheerio practice one night a week?" Quinn said anxiously.

"Oh, she's cool with it. Since Mr. Schue told Figgins that half the Cheerios should have failed Spanish, she's been paranoid about it happening again, so she's fine with it."

"Perfect," said Finn. "Now, do you guys know the plan for the first lesson?"

* * *

"Where is everyone?" Artie said looking around.

"I'm not sure," Tina frowned. "Mercedes said her and Kurt were running over to the mall for some 'emergency shopping,' Rachel, Finn, Quinn, Puck said they were discussing something," they exchanged somewhat knowing glances at this, "And Santana, Britt, Mike and Matt said they were going out to lunch for a double-date," she glossed over this detail quickly, hoping to avoid the awkward silence that was abound whenever dating was mentioned.

"Well, I guess it's just us for lunch then!" Artie said cheerfully.

Tina nodded, laughing inwardly that she knew she could always depend on Artie's optimism. "So what do you think about this whole tutoring thing? I mean, we've never done double-tutoring before, and it's _Puck_ and _Santana._"

"Well, I'm not really concerned about the double-tutoring aspect. I mean, I know you're a fantastic tutor," Tina blushed at this point, "And I'm not too bad myself," he winked at her, "So that's not going to be an issue. We'll just figure out what we can do to help each other out, and arrange who's going to be tutoring when. If Puck and Santana need help like it sounds they do, then I don't think they're going to be messing around. More like taking all the information that they can get. If Santana fails a class, she's off the Cheerios, and if Puck fails, he's going to be off the football team. Neither of them want that, so we have that in our favor."

"There is that," Tina conceded, still worried, "I know they've changed a lot since they've joined Glee, I'm just...I guess it's hard to forget some stuff, right?" Tina then groaned and smacked herself upside the head internally, _Yeah, like maybe not forgetting about your best friend _not_ having a stutter. _Way _to go genius._

"I know, but all we can do is hope and believe in them right?" Artie smiled bashfully.

"Well, at least we have each other," Tina smiled at him, hoping that with Artie's reaction, maybe he was really getting over her lie.

"High-five to that!" Tina laughed and high-fived Artie, giving each other goofy grins. They chatted about random things for the rest of the lunch hour, and started counting down the hours to Glee.

* * *

After Glee practice, Tina and Artie waited for Puck and Santana. Puck had told them at the beginning of rehearsal that they would wait for them to figure out a time to start studying. They were both talking to Quinn and Kurt quietly about something, although they weren't close enough to figure out what they were saying, and didn't want to intrude. Suddenly realizing that they were the only one's talking, Kurt's head popped up.

"And yes, I would _absolutely_ love to give you a makeover for your pregnancy Quinn! Puck, please let me get my hands on your hair, and Santana, same thing!" Kurt said in a high-pitched voice.

Puck, Santana, and Quinn shot him weird glances, and then figured it out. "Right Kurt, I would _love_ to find some pants that can expand with me," Quinn laughed quietly.

"We'll see about the hair," Puck shot a warning glance at Kurt and ran a hand through his mohawk. It was one of the things that showed him as apart from the crowd, and showed his coolness. Well, it was one of the things, beside his arms, _Oh yeah!_

Puck and Santana made their way over to where Artie and Tina were standing.

"Um, sorry guys," Santana said awkwardly, "You know Kurt and his makeover ideas!"

Tina laughed, Kurt had been trying to persuade her for a long time to wear some tighter clothing to_ "_Show off that _fabulous_ body," but she had successfully resisted him so far. She was comfortable showing some skin, she wasn't a prude, but she didn't dress to impress people. She dressed the way she did to express herself.

Artie gave a knowing grin to Tina, he had been on the receiving end of Kurt's fashion advice too. "But Artie, suspenders and _sweater_ vests? Please let me show you some alternatives!" Artie still stuck to his clothing though, because it worked for him. When he was moving around, he couldn't let his clothing get snagged and start working it's way down. The first time he had fallen out of his chair and he had tried getting back in, he had successfully got back in, and then noticed his pants around his thighs. That could _not_ happen in public. Sweater vests weren't the most 'fashionable' either, but they were warm!

"Yeah, we know what you mean, no worries," Artie smiled at them both. "So, do you guys want to figure out when would work for everyone?"

"I have football practice Monday, Tuesday after school, and Friday before school. Aside from that, I'm pretty much clear," Puck drawled.

"I have Cheerios at the same time," Santana nodded her head at Puck.

"Cool," Artie said cheerfully, "Why don't we do the two together sessions on Wednesday, and Thursday after Glee, and then the two separate ones on the weekend? Tina?"

"Yup, sounds fine with me!" Tina smiled at Artie.

"Sounds great guys," Santana grinned at Puck discreetly, nodding her head slightly towards Tina.

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to getting to know some more...information," he smirked at Tina, running his eyes all over her.

Tina was slightly stunned. Why was Noah Puckerman checking her out? She felt...exposed. Scratch Kurt's plan, more clothing!

Although Artie was at a slight disadvantage at being on a lower height than Puck and Santana – Tina had sat next to him while they were waiting – he still couldn't miss the way Puck looked Tina up and down, and he didn't like it at all. She was his best friend first of all, they had only gone out on a date 3 weeks ago, and yeah, he'll admit it, he was sort of hoping for a second one but didn't exactly know how to broach it. Second they were going to be tutoring Puck, so it was pretty unprofessional. Thirdly, hey, he doesn't need a thirdly, _back off Puck!_

"Me too," Santana smirked at Artie, "I'm definitely looking forward into tapping all of that brain-power of your's Artie, and Tina," she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Tina nearly fell over in astonishment. _What_ was Santana doing kissing Artie?! She nearly pushed her off him, but then remembered, she didn't exactly have the right to do that. They had had an amazing friendship which had turned into a romantic relationship, and her confession had screwed it up. She desperately wanted to turn the clock back, but knew she couldn't. She wished that there could be the possibility of a second date though. Still, he was her best friend, so she could technically push her off...thankfully it was only a quick second kiss though, otherwise Santana would most likely have been on the floor by now.

"Cool, so we'll see you guys tomorrow," Puck said lazily. "Bye guys!"

"Bye!" echoed Santana, blowing them an air kiss.

Puck and Santana looked at each other outside of the music room and instantly put their fingers to their lips and ran to the auditorium. They reached it just in time, pushed open the door and collapsed to the ground, laughing their heads off.

"Did you see Artie's face when I was checking out Tina?" Puck laughed hysterically.

"Um, did you see _her_ face when I kissed him? I almost thought she was going to punch me right then and there!" Santana gasped in between breaths.

"So, I take it the plan is a-go?" Kurt said snarkily.

"Plan is a-go and is in full take-off!" Puck choked out.

"Santana, you know the next stage of the plan?" Rachel said bossily.

"Indeed!" Santana mock-saluted her.

"Puck, you know what's up next?" Mercedes said.

"Aye, aye!" Puck tipped an imaginary hat to her.

The rest of the group high-fived, maybe, just maybe, their plan could work.


	3. Minor Setback's

**Author's note:** Wow, almost 20 reviews already! You guys are awesome :)! So, we are officially in the plan, thoughts on the plan's name? Hopefully you guys like it! It's definitely different from my usual stuff, and as always, I love to hear opinions :)!

**Disclaimer:** In case you're still wondering, nope, STILL not mine!

* * *

Things had gone mostly back to normal after she had confessed her stutter to Artie, but things were...for lack of a better word, tense. She had liked him for a _long_ time, and then he had finally asked her out on a date, and she couldn't take lying to him for any longer. He had been really upset when she had first confessed, but they had talked it over a couple of times, and realized they didn't want to lose each other as friends because of it.

The problem was, things had gone back to normal _normal. _As in pre-date, it was as though it had never happened, and that wasn't what Tina wanted. She had loved Artie as her best friend since they had met, but it had turned into a romantic love, and she didn't want to stay just as friends, but if that's all he had to offer her, then that's what she had to take. It didn't mean she had to like it though.

Things were still somewhat tense between them though. Whenever anyone remotely mentioned anything about "faking" or "lying," Tina would instantly be transported back to when she had first told Artie the truth about her stutter and wonder if he would remember that. Then she'd think she was being paranoid, but wondering if he was thinking about that. Then when they would sit close to each other while doing homework, or watching movies, there was this gap between them that they were each afraid to broach, because they didn't know what the other one would do.

* * *

Artie and Tina left the room pretty quickly after Puck and Santana had left, and were still avoiding looking at each other much. After Puck had so blatantly been checking her out, her face had flamed, knowing Artie had seen what Puck was doing. She was blushing furiously that a) Puck had done that, b) he had done it in front of Artie, and c) what would Artie be thinking now? Would that have finally pushed him into hurrying him up and start them dating again, or would that make him think that she liked Puck and didn't want to ask her now? _Argh, boys suck!_ she thought angrily, kicking a stone, _why couldn't they just be simple and say what they're thinking?_

Artie heard a little _ping_ on the metal of his chair and looked down to see a small stone on the sidewalk, and a mutinous expression on Tina's face. "You okay Tee?" he asked nervously laughing.

She shook her head and looked up, "Yeah, just tripped."

Artie cleared his throat nervously, "So what do you think of this whole tutoring thing?"

Tina frowned again, trying to get the image of Santana kissing Artie out of her mind. "Um, it's definitely going to be...interesting."

"Yeah, I mean, Puck, and Santana, and then us, interesting combination," he said quietly, thinking of that stupid expression on Puckerman's face when he was checking Tina out. I mean, hello, there were definitely other people in the room, and could Puck have _been_ any more obvious? He didn't think so. But why on earth would Puck be interested in _Tina_ of all people? Don't get him wrong, he knew exactly why an idiot like Puck would be interested in Tina. She was smart, intelligent, beautiful, not afraid to express herself, kind, generous...he shook his head, but why on _earth_ was Puckerman suddenly becoming interested in her? He must have known that for ages – even though it was him after all – but something just didn't seem...right. He really hoped that somebody had maybe just hit Puck too hard when playing football and that he would snap out of it soon.

His mind then drifted over to Santana though. What was she doing _kissing_ him? He knew that Santana had felt a lot closer to the group than she had at the beginning, and especially with that speech she had made about liking Glee club before they performed at Sectionals. But, still...why was she kissing him? He could only come to the conclusion that maybe someone had dropped her during Cheerio practice. He shook his head, maybe before tutoring, they should send Puck and Santana to the school nurse.

* * *

"So, dude, what are we doing here?" Puck worriedly asked Artie.

"Well Puck, this is the library, and generally, people use it because it's quiet and there's lots of books and it can be used to help you study," Artie replied patiently, seeing the look of panic on Puck's face.

"But dude! The youngest chick here is 50 years old!" he frantically gestured at the librarian sitting 50ft away from them.

She turned to them, glared menacingly and put her finger to her lips, "_Ssshh!"_

Puck held his hands up in defense, "Wheels, there's cougars, and then there's grannies! _This place is full of grannies!"_

Artie couldn't help but laugh, "Puck, what on earth do you think we're doing here? We're here to study, not for anything else, and speaking of which, we need to get started on your math."

Puck glared at him. The rest of Glee club _so _owed him, who on earth did they think he was, hanging out with Grannies while the rest of the cougar kingdom awaited?

* * *

About an hour later, Puck was groaning internally in frustration. Artie was a whiz kid at math, and a good tutor, but it was just so _boring. _And it was time to start the plan anyways.

"So, when are we getting together with the girls?" he said with a suggestive wink.

Artie frowned, "Well, we're doing these individual sessions, and then we're going to be meeting up. But we do really need to keep working on Cos, Sin, and Tan."

"Yeah, but, um, I think I _really_ need to work on my history as well dude."

"Well, I think we're meeting up with Santana and Tina tomorrow. Don't worry, Tina's an amazing tutor and you'll figure it out pretty quickly," Artie finished the sentence quickly, getting more and more red towards the end.

"Cool. She's pretty smoking you know," he said casually.

Artie spluttered, "What?"

"Miss Tina Cohen-Chang," Puck said patiently like he was talking to a little child, "Have you seen those legs and that butt? She is _smoking_ hot, don't tell me you've never seen that."

Artie stared at him in shock, considering the possibility of slugging him across the face. She was his _best_ friend, and they were practically dating! Well, not that she really knew that, but you know. They _had_ been dating, and damnit, who was he kidding? If it was a choice between him and Puck, he wasn't sure who she'd choose as a romantic partner, but he didn't think it would be him.

Puck smirked at him knowingly, seeing that hard glint in Artie's eyes.

* * *

"So, you're telling me the White House wasn't _originally_ white?" Santana looked baffled. "Why on earth would you call it that then?"

Tina groaned internally, _Of all the things to be concerned about._ "Ok, so moving on, the War of 1812, why was it important?"

"Hold on one second, before we keep going with this _stuff,"_ she cast a disparaging glance at her textbook. "Why are we _here?"_

When Tina had done tutoring in the past, she had always done it at the school library. It was quiet, not many people went there, and it was a great place to study. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was in her element her, and felt comfortable, and nothing at all to do with the fact that she needed as much normalcy in this unnatural situation as possible. Nothing, at all.

"What do you mean?" she said innocently.

Santana gave her a glare, "Why are we surrounded by all those things," she pointed her finger at the library shelves.

"You mean the books?" Tina said confused.

Santana nodded. "Well," Tina said carefully, "In a library, they generally have a lot of those for people who want to do research."

Santana interrupted her, "I know what they're _for_," she gave Tina a disgusted look, "But they're all online!"

Tina shook her head, some battles just weren't worth it. "Anyways," she started again, pointing back towards the book.

Santana interrupted her again, "So when are we meeting up with the boys?" she said coyly.

"Um, I think we're planning tomorrow night," Tina said quietly, the visual of Santana kissing Artie still in her head.

"Cool!" Santana said happily, "It's going to be _so_ much fun! Artie is just _so_ hot, and strong, and dorky," she trailed off, sighing again with a far-away look in her eyes.

Tina gaped at her, did she _seriously_ just say that? This was Santana, who had dated _Puck_, and was the head Cheerio now that Quinn wasn't on the team. Did she _honestly_ just say that Artie was _hot?_ It wasn't as though she thought Artie was unattractive far from it. It was impossible not to love that big smile, his blue eyes, but that wasn't what she liked best about him. It was his larger-than-life personality, his optimism, and his never-ending faith in people. If Santana decided she wanted to date him, what could she do to stop her, and more to the point, would Artie want _her_ instead of Santana? She shook her head, who would when offered that choice?

* * *

"Ok guys, we have some minor setbacks," Kurt addressed the Glee club at large.

Finn shook his head, "Tell me about it, Tina and Artie have been walking around like someone took their kittens."

"Also, before we actually start this meeting, we need to come up with a group name so that we don't have to keep saying Glee club minus Artie and Tina when we're sending emails to people to have said meetings!" Rachel said hysterically, "Do you know how hard it is to keep writing that?"

"Calm down diva," Mercedes eyed her warily. "Alright people, suggestions for group names will be emailed to me and Kurt after the meeting," she and Kurt gave each other a high-five, "But for right now, we need a Progress Report from Puck and Santana, _what_ did you guys do?"

Puck shifted uncomfortably, since he had told Artie that Tina was hot, he looked as though he had been slapped, and that someone had taken away his guitar. Yeah, that dude looked _miserable._ "Um, well, I told him what we agreed about Tina being hot, and may have mentioned her legs, and butt..." he trailed off.

"Yes, but that's what we agreed," Kurt said pompously. "Santana, what did you say to Tina?"

"I followed the plan as well, I told Tina that Artie was hot, and practically drooled over him, and then she looked as though I stole her kitten!" she finished in a rush, still feeling awful at how Tina's face had looked when she had said that.

"Ok, so, both Tina and Artie have looked awful since you each told them the other was attractive," Finn pondered aloud, "So...ideas on why they're sad?"

Rachel smacked herself on the head, "Guys, this is Tina and Artie we're talking about."

The rest of the group looked back at her with, _yes, so what?_ expressions on their faces.

She sighed and continued, "They're not like us, they're a lot more...well, reserved. Tina lied for 4 years about having a stutter because she was so shy. Artie's been in his chair for eight years, and he's pretty quiet because he was trying to avoid getting tossed in a dumpster," she sent Puck a pointed glance here. "They're not the most self-confident people here, and for you guys just telling them the other one was hot, they don't think they stand a chance against you, so they've given up! It was a good idea to _make_ them jealous," she nodded at Quinn, "But now we need to make them confident that they can attract the other person. Make sense?"

Kurt nodded slowly, "She may have a point."

"So, what are you proposing?" Quinn said with a small smile.

"We need to get them jealous yes, but we need to give them some incentive," Rachel beamed at everyone.

* * *

Hmm, so what just will that incentive be? Also, what group name do you guys want the Glee Club minus Artie and Tina to be called? Lastly, reviews = love.


	4. GAATBTAPTQCUWF

**Author's note:** WOW. This is the most amount of reviews per chapter I've ever received, so I'm guessing that means you guys like it? Or at least, hoping you do! Haha. This chapter is split into two, since it was REALLY long, you'll see the majority of Tina's experiences next chapter! I'd like to thank my faithful reviewers, you know who you are! I'd especially like to thank :doxthextimexwarp and xnerdark for their awesome names for the group! I've used one in this chapter, but intend to use the other ones. Please note, those ideas belong to them, and they have given me permission to use them, so thanks for the awesome suggestions guys! Sorry for such a long AN, hope you guys like it, and I love to hear your guys thoughts :)!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, not mine.

* * *

"So, how was your first session?" Artie awkwardly asked Tina. After their tutoring sessions, they had decided to meet up at Artie's house to discuss what they would go over the next night with their joint session. He still couldn't get what Puck said out of his mind. He knew it was obviously true, but there was so much more to Tina than that. Still, he couldn't deny it wasn't exactly like Puck to notice a non-Cheerio, perhaps he could recommend that nurses appointment sometime tomorrow?

"Um, it was good. Although we spent a long amount of time talking about weird, small things," Tina mused, still thinking about the whole White-but-not-originally-white-White-House. She couldn't help but think about what Santana had said after about Artie. She knew it was true, and had known it for a _long_ time, but that wasn't who Artie was. She liked him for much more than that. But for Santana to be suddenly taking interest in a person who wasn't a jock? That was just weird. Maybe she was dropped during practice, it was only right that she should get checked out by the nurse before their next session.

Artie laughed, "Yeah, I think Puck was more concerned with the lack of 'cougars,'" he quoted with his fingers, "Than anything with math. Although he did catch on to things pretty well."

"Same with Santana. They're both really smart, I think it's just that they can't be bothered learning the material so much because it's not really interesting to them."

"So, basically we need to get a much older female to teach Puck math, and we need a, "hot," using air quotes again and paired with a sarcastic smile,"To teach Santana history."

Tina laughed, Artie always knew how to pull her out of a funk. "Which doesn't really work when it's me and you," she teased.

"Hey, hey," Artie held up his hands defensively, "It's not my fault this awesome-ness," he gestured at his face and arms, "Doesn't want to get grass stains on my _amazing_ clothes," he jokingly preened.

Tina held her hands in front of her face, trying to stop laughing at Artie's ridiculous facial expression and actions. "True, I mean, that _is_ a very nice shirt." Artie blushed slightly at this, and Tina pretended not to notice. "But seriously, unless you suddenly age 40 years and turn into a female, and I turn into a male who can miraculously play sports, we're screwed."

Artie burst out laughing, "Tee? Why am I turning into a female and you into a male?"

Tina blushed, "It's been a _long_ day Arthur Abrams!" she smacked him on the head with a rolled up piece of paper.

Artie held his hands out jokingly, "Ok, in all seriousness, what are we going to do to get Puck and Santana interested?"

They pondered thoughtfully for a couple of minutes.

"Maybe it doesn't matter who presents it, but where and _how_ we present it," Tina said slowly and deliberately.

Artie grinned, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

They high-fived, and cackling, made their plans for the next session.

* * *

"Ok guys! You all know the plan, any last minute questions?" Mike asked the group at large.

"Um, first off Changster, _why_ are we all here at this time in the morning?" Mercedes asked with her hand on her hip, aka warning pose.

They had all received a mass email from Matt the previous night telling them to: "Get your butts to the Choir Room at 8:00am to discuss plan Get-Artie-And-Tina-Back-Together-After-The-Plan-That-Quinn-Came-Up-With-Failed (GAATBTAPTQCUWF). Be there or be square!" Needless to say, school started at 8:30, and none of them liked being up that early anyways.

"Well, we had to make sure that _some_ people," he threw a look at Santana and Puck, "Know the new plan so we don't accidentally cause more damage."

"We've got _that_, but why at this time?" Kurt asked inquiringly.

"We're starting off the plan in T-minus 10 minutes, we need to get arranged what we're doing so we don't screw up and they'll figure it out!" Mike waved his arms about excitedly.

Quinn yawned, they had all got a mass email from Mike the night before who had elected himself as the "Stage 2 Plan Artie-Tina Mission" with his first order being to call this meeting. "Got it Mike, ok, let's start with you guys, who's going to start and when, where and what?"

Matt stood up, "NO! Before we discuss this, we are going to discuss what we are going to _call_ this! I know what Rachel means about this whole emailingness crazy naming thing, we are coming up with a shorter name, and NOW!" he sat down looking slightly maniacal. Mike felt a little bit bad, he had elected Matt to send round all the emails since he was a dancer, he wasn't on the technical side of things.

"I'm hungry!" Brittany complained. "Does anyone have any food?"

Everyone looked accusingly at Mike who held his hands up, "Guys, what's more important here? Food or looooove?" he fluttered his eyelashes.

Everyone laughed and started looking in their pockets for food.

"Um, I've got Sweet Tarts Britt," Finn offered. "Although, I'm not sure how long they've been in my pocket, and they might have been unwrapped, but I'm not sure," he finished awkwardly.

"Sweet Tarts!" Brittany exclaimed.

"Um, yeah, I didn't know you really liked them, but yeah," Finn finished.

"No, Sweet Tarts!" Brittany said excitedly again, looking at everyone. They all just looked back confused. "No," she said patiently, "Sweet, because Artie and Tina are sweet. And then T for Tina, and Art, for Artie. Sweet Tarts!" she looked around expectantly.

"Nice one Britt!" Santana leaned over and gave her a high-five. The rest of the members murmured congrats and approval.

"Well, that is another bit of business! We officially have another name on the table for this plan! All other names must be in by the end of today!" Mike said officially.

"Mike?" Rachel said patiently.

"Yes, my dear Miss. Berry?" Mike said enthusiastically.

"Weren't we supposed to be discussing a _plan_?" she said sarcastically.

"Crap!" He quickly looked at his watch, "Ok people, 5 minutes to go, lets get this party started!"

* * *

Artie and Tina always met at the corner of their streets to get to school. They'd done it since Tina had first moved to Lima, having always gone to the same schools. They walked/wheeled side-by-side, discussing what had gone on in the few hours they hadn't seen each other, and placed their daily bet on who would get slushied first (Tina always won). It was still slightly awkward between them though. Before, they could talk about what they wanted when they wanted, but since stutter-gate, there was this chasm between them of things they couldn't see for fear of upsetting the other, or just making things weird. Frankly, it sucked.

They got to school about 10 minutes later, sneaking in through the side entrance so as to avoid the jocks out front. They made their way slowly through the hall so as to delay that inevitable bell leading them to be stuck in classes all day. They turned the corner to get to their lockers and Tina collided with someone, someone wearing a tweed jacket, and a tweed hat, and was basically a walking tweed pattern. Only one person she knew would wear that amount of tweed.

"Hey Kurt," she greeted him. She looked around for Mercedes, his ever-present partner in-crime and noted her lurking not too far away from him.

"Well hello Miss. Tina," he said haughtily, "I didn't know we were keeping secrets from each other now!" he ended with a huff.

Tina looked confusedly at Artie, what was Kurt talking about?

Mercedes walked over and smacked him on the back of the head, "Kurt! I'm sure Tina had some good reasons for keeping it a secret," she winked at Artie, "But for right now, you're coming with _me,_" she grabbed Tina's arm pulling her along, "And we are going to have a nice chat! Bye Artie!" she waved over her shoulder, and Tina gave him a _help me!_ look.

Artie started to wheel after her but was stopped by something heavy, he turned around with a frown, noting Kurt holding onto his wheelchair. "Um, Kurt?"

Kurt smirked at him, "Don't worry Arthur. The girls are just having some girl-talk about what you and Tina have been keeping from us."

Artie looked at him confusedly, "What are you talking about?"

Kurt sighed and brushed his hair out of his eyes, "I mean Arthur," he stressed his name, "They are going to be talking about why neither of you told us you were dating!" he waggled his fingers in Artie's face.

Artie blinked and sputtered like a fish. "Kurt, me and Tina are _not_ dating! We're…friends! _Best_ friends!"

Kurt smiled knowingly at him, "Don't worry Arthur, your little secret will be safe with me!" he walked away with a saucy grin and a wink at Artie.

Artie just stayed where he was, not even bothering to move out of the middle of the hallway and just gaped at Kurt.

Kurt quickly walked down the rest of the hallway and texted the rest of the club, "First step is completed. Finn, Mike, Matt, you're up!"

* * *

Tina groaned, rubbing her shoulder pathetically. "I think that's going to leave a bruise!" she groaned.

"Oh, hush girl!" Mercedes said impatiently, "What's going to leave a bruise on my _heart,"_ she put her hand on her chest and gasped dramatically, "Is my best friend keeping secrets from me!"

Tina frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you and _Wheels!"_ she said excitedly.

"What about us?" asked Tina, really confused by this point.

Mercedes smirked, "How long have you two been _dating?_" she waved her hands in excitement.

Tina gaped at her, "W-w-what?" she spluttered.

"You know," Mercedes winked at her. "We all knew you two were hot for each other, but when did you make it _official!_"

Tina groaned internally. Of all the rumors that could be going around right now, this was _not_ one she wanted. Artie and her were just making a little bit of headway into getting back to normal, and this was going to freak him out! "Mercedes," she began softly, "I don't know what you've heard, but me and Artie are _not_ dating. You know what happened," she ended with a frown.

"Well, fine, don't tell me if you guys want to keep it a secret, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she finished with a saucy wink, "But, I call Maid of Honor at the wedding!"

Tina shook her head, this was going to be a _long_ day.

While Tina wasn't paying attention and looking morosely down at her feet, Mercedes quickly sent the pre-arranged text to the group. "Girls, it's on. Brittany, Quinn, you're up next!"

* * *

Artie finally managed to wheel himself out of the middle of the hallway after about 5 minutes. He didn't know _what_ was going on, but something wasn't right. He started wheeling himself over to his locker, hoping Tina was alright, and was stopped by Finn.

"Hey Artie!" he beamed at him, "How's it going bud?" he ended with a wink.

"Um, good thanks Finn," Artie finished with a frown, what was Finn doing? They were friends, but Finn was _never_ here before the bell in the morning. He always overslept but he only had study period first anyway, so no-one really bothered.

"I'm _excellent,"_ he said with a huge grin, "Even more so when I heard what happened! You're the man, dude!" he held out his hand for a high-five.

Artie smacked his hand half-heartedly, "Um, thanks?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell _anyone_ about you and Tina. You guys are _awesome_ together though!" he finished with an exaggerated whisper.

"Finn, whoa, what _about _me and Tina?" Artie said hurriedly.

"You, know, that you guys finally got together!" he said excitedly, waving his arms around. "Awesome little dude! It'll be our secret!" he walked away quickly with a nervous grin, ducking out of peoples way. He stopped about 10ft away, glanced nervously around, and gave him a thumbs-up "You da man!" he shouted then looked around when everyone looked at him, "Oops!" he ran away quickly.

Artie shook his head. Did he wake up in an alternate universe this morning? Somebody must have hit Finn really hard during football. He was starting to think that all the athletes of McKinley High needed to get checked out, something was going on. He started to wheel himself to his locker again and was blocked by Mike and Matt.

"Dude, that is _so_ awesome!" Mike whispered excitedly at him.

"Hey Mike," Artie said wearily, "What's awesome?"

"You and Tina!" Matt waved his hands in the air, "You guys are _finally_ together, awesome job dude!"

Artie was getting sick of this, "Guys, I don't know what's going on-"

Mike interrupted him, "Don't worry, we won't tell _anyone_." He and Matt slapped each other's hands in the air, gave Artie a quick man-hug, and ran away giggling down the hall.

Artie stared bemusedly after them. Yup, he was going to talk to the Principal about getting all the footballers to get checked out.

* * *

Oh, that sneaky club! Mr. Schue get's involved in the plan next, and stay tuned for the rest of the sneakiness! Reviews = love.


	5. GMAT

**Author's note:** Ok, I have to say that this is the most successful fiction I've written here, WOOT! But, I couldn't have done it without all you guys, so thank you! You're all INCREDIBLE! I would also love to thank doxthextimexwarp for their contribution in this chapter in reference to the name. If any of you guys would like to also contribute, please feel free! Happy reading!

**Disclaimer:** Is it ever mine? Nope. Sadly.

* * *

Tina wasn't having much luck either. After her 'visit' to the washroom with Mercedes, she had dazedly made her way back out into the hallway and headed to her locked. On the way there, she was stopped by none other than Rachel Berry.

"Tina!" she screeched happily grabbing her arm, "I just wanted to let you know, I heard the happy news and I am _so_ excited for you guys!"

Tina stared at her like she'd grown a third head.

Rachel beamed widely back at her, "But don't worry! I won't tell anyone! Well, just make sure that even though you and Artie _are_ an item now, you guys still have to demonstrate professional behavior during Glee! But, lips are sealed!" she made a zipping motion over her lips and ran away.

Tina stared after her in astonishment. What was going _on?_ Did Jacob Israel post something on his blog about her and Artie? Something was going on and she had to fix it _fast_ or the fragile relationship that she and Artie were building back up would be crushed.

She finally made her way to her locker after dodging through throngs of students and swinging back-packs and pointy elbows. She opened her locker, dropped her stuff off, and grabbed the books she needed for her next class and slammed the door shut.

"Eeeek!" she squeaked and fell backwards in surprise. Brittany was on the other side of her locker door and just approaching was Quinn.

"You alright there Tina?" Quinn asked with a small smile, giving her a helping hand up.

"Oh my gosh!" Brittany breathed, holding her hands off her mouth, "I'm so sorry Tina, I didn't mean to scare you! I came up to tell you something but then I forgot, and I was just trying to think of what it was..." she trailed off thinking hard.

"That's ok Britt," Tina smiled at the dizzy cheerleader. She was too nice to do any intentional harm to people.

"Well, it looks like Brittany wasn't the only one surprising people today though," Quinn winked at Tina. "But we are _so_ happy for you guys!" she gushed.

Tina frowned and readjusted her books, _if this is another reference to me and Artie I'm going to _scream! "What do you mean Quinn?" she asked cautiously.

"I mean about you and Artie," Quinn said coyly.

"Oh!" Brittany clapped her hands and jumped up and down in excitement, "That's what it was! You and Artie make _such_ a cute couple!"

"But don't worry, we won't tell anyone," Quinn winked at her, and before Tina had time to say anything, she grabbed Brittany's arm and started walking down the hallway.

Tina groaned and sank down to the floor. _Really universe_, she thought, _why me, why now, and what did I do to you? I'm _sure_ I should be getting some good karma sometime around now._ The bell rang. _Yup, good karma_, she sighed. There was no point going anywhere now. She had math first thing with Artie and Mr. Robinson would not let them in if they were one second past the bell. Scary guy.

She closed her eyes and started thinking about what possibly could be going on. Concussion? Well, that might be the case for Brittany with all her Cheerio practice, but Mercedes wasn't on the squad, and Quinn wasn't either anymore. Maybe Quinn's was a build-up case though? And maybe Kurt had accidentally hit Mercedes on the head with a hanger when they were going mall-shopping or whatever they did there?

She was interrupted from her musing by a small nudge by her side. She opened her eyes and saw Artie smiling down at her. "You okay there Tee?"

"Um, define _okay_," she said quietly.

"What was that?" he frowned. She could talk _really_ quietly when she wanted to.

"I said why aren't you in class?" she said quickly.

Artie started turning slightly red, "Um, I got waylaid in the hallway by a couple of people, and by the time I'd grabbed my stuff the bell had gone."

They both looked at each other and burst out laughing. They always joked about what had made Mr. Robinson so mean about time-keeping. It was good to know that some things didn't change.

"So why aren't you in class?" he asked her curiously.

"I got waylaid by some people too," she sad quickly.

"Jocks?" Artie said with a frown.

"No, " she said quickly, "Some people from Glee."

"Me too," Artie frowned internally, "What did they want?" he asked curiously.

Tina started blushing again, "Just wondering about some of the songs coming up!" she said breezily. "So what did Kurt want this morning?"

By the end of this conversation, Artie thought he might permanently be the color of a pepper if he kept blushing the way he did. And what do you know, there it went again. "Oh, um, he was just telling me about how I should stop wearing sweater-vests," he said quickly, frantically searching his mind for what Kurt would want with him.

Tina laughed, knowing Kurt's neuroticism regarding Artie's sweater-vests. "Did you agree yet?" she asked teasingly.

"Nope," he beamed, "So what was up with Mercedes this morning?"

It was now Tina's turn to blush. _Why, oh why, have they come up with so many miraculous things, and yet not a cure for blushing?!_ "Just wondering if I wanted to go shopping with her this weekend, you know, get some 'regular' shoes," she pointed down at her boots laughing.

Artie sniggered, it was good to know that it wasn't only him that was on Kurt and Mercedes fashion faux pas list. But, why was Tina blushing?

They were interrupted by a loud, "Dude!" from the end of the hallway.

Tina and Artie turned to look at what was going on. Puck was standing at the end of the hallway with Santana looking at them.

"Oh my gosh!" Santana squealed. She ran up to the both of them and Puck followed at a slower pace. "I heard it this morning, but I didn't think it was true!"

"I've got to admit Wheels, I didn't think it was true either, but you're _fly_ dude!" he gave Artie a high-five which Artie did out of shock.

"Um, what do you guys mean?" Tina asked carefully.

"You know, about you _two,"_ she fake-whispered.

Artie and Tina looked at each other, knowing what she was talking about, but pretending not too, just in case the other didn't know, and not wanting to freak the other out.

"Yeah, we got that Santana. But, what do you _mean?_" Artie said a bit impatiently.

"She means about you two _dating,_" Puck rolled his eyes as if it were the most simple thing in the world. "But don't worry guys, we won't tell anyone. Secret's safe!" he gave them both a wink and grabbing Santana's hand, they walked away quickly with Santana waving at them while Puck dragged her away.

Tina put her face in her hands and groaned internally, trying not to look at what would have surely been a horrified expression on Artie's face.

Artie blushed beet-red and tried to look anywhere but at Tina were he would surely see a disgusted expression. Great, just when things might have been getting back to normal, this happened. Fantastic.

* * *

The rest of the day was agonizingly long for both of them. They couldn't look at each other without blushing furiously, and tried to make up excuses for why they suddenly had to dash off when the other was in close proximity.

In Glee club, the tension between the two was palpable. Instead of making it obvious and sitting across the room from each other, Tina had grabbed Mercedes and sat her down next to her, and Artie had grabbed Kurt to 'give him some fashion advice' on the other side.

The practice was one of the most tense they had had. And that was saying something considering Babygate, the initial joining of the jocks, initial joining of the Cheerios and all those other crazy rehearsals.

It was a relief when rehearsal finally ended and right after Mr. Schue finished his "See you guys tomorrow!" Tina was out the door and Artie close on her heels.

The rest of the club sighed dejectedly. Just when it seemed like they had the perfect plan, they didn't.

"Guys," ventured Rachel timidly, "I would like to say that although this plan would have appeared to work better than the previous one, I don't think it has been successful."

Puck nodded his head, "They're at least talking to each other now, and it's not that sad stuff they've been doing for the past couple of days, so cool. But, now I think they're too embarrassed too do anything."

Mike sat sulking in the corner, "We are _not _changing the group name again to fit another plan in! Do you know how long it took me to come up with that?"

Brittany laughed, "Mike, it's ok, it's not about the team name, it's about getting Artie and Tina together," she smiled encouragingly at him and gave him a small kiss.

"They're both right," Quinn said solemnly, referring to Rachel's and Puck's comments, "We've got them talking, and now they're both thinking about dating each other, but they're too shy to do anything about it, and they don't want to be the first one to do anything, in case they upset the other one."

"Are you guys seriously talking abut getting Artie and Tina dating?" Mr. Schue's voice came from the back of the room shocking them all.

"No! Not at all!" Finn said quickly, "We're talking about my friends, Tina and Artie," he stopped suddenly, realizing that he had just reversed their names around.

The rest of the group face-palmed themselves, and Mike and Matt burst into hysterical laughter.

Mr. Schue grinned at them all, "Don't worry guys, I think it's definitely worth a try, and we definitely need to fix what's going on. I think I may have an idea. We agree they're too embarrassed to do anything first right?" he looked at Quinn who nodded back at him. "So, what do you say we do it for them?"

"What do you have in mind?" Rachel asked him with a smile.

"Well, I take it you guys were the ones who kept running around and telling Tina and Artie that you'd heard about them dating, but you wouldn't tell anybody?" Mr. Schue grinned at them.

"How do you know that?" Brittany asked blinking her eyes rapidly, "Did the mallard tell you?"

Mr. Schue blinked back at her, "Wha-?" he shook his head, "No, the teachers were talking in the staffroom about hearing something randomly like that, and with what I heard before, sounds like you guys were the ones behind it."

The group nodded their heads slowly, looking sheepish.

"No, it was a good idea guys!" he said encouragingly, "But instead of just saying we know now, lets make it real tomorrow."

He explained the plan to the rest of the club, who had growing smiles on their faces.

"Awesome plan Mr. Schue!" Rachel said admiringly.

"Ok," Mike interrupted, "I know we've just been talking about the whole plan and whatnot, but me and Matt have come up with the perfect new name. Are you ready?" he paused dramatically.

The rest of the group sighed, secretly laughing at how much the boys loved this idea.

"GMAT," he said proudly.

"What mat?" Brittany asked confusedly.

"No," Mike said patiently, "Glee Minus Artie and Tina, AND it also stands for Graduate Management Admissions Test, so they won't know if were talking about it right in front of them!" he clapped his hands excitedly and him and Matt high-fived.

"Fine," Mercedes said quickly, "But, if this plan fails, which no offense Mr. Schue, but it might, then me and Kurt get to choose the next name. Agreed?" she looked threateningly at the boys.

"Agreed!" they agreed quickly in high-pitched voices.

"Alright," Mr. Schue laughed, "Now, you guys all know what you're doing?"

* * *

Tehehe. So, the next plan approaches. Will it be more successful? Hopefully! Reviews = love


	6. Plan Tartie

**Author's note:** Wow, I am actually overwhelmed with all the response to this story! You guys are INCREDIBLE! Thank you so much for sticking with me, and I'm very sorry for the update delay, the past two weeks have been crazy. Hopefully you all like it, and as always, comments are appreciated!

**Disclaimer: Q-**When is it ever mine? **A-** Never.

* * *

The next day at Glee club everyone was looking around at each other, wondering where Mr. Schue was. Well, Mike and Matt were sulking in the corner that their plan hadn't worked, and Kurt and Mercedes were eying them smugly, certain that it would be up to them to choose a plan name next. Everyone else was not-so-subtly staring at Artie and Tina, and they were staring back in puzzlement that everyone was staring at them.

Thankfully, Mr. Schue burst through the door a second later holding an enormous stack of paper and looking rather harried.

"Sorry guys," he apologized grimacing, "Ms. Sylvester just stopped me in the hallway for a chat." He shook his head looking down at the floor. Then, suddenly remembering, "Oh, right! You guys _rocked_ it at Sectionals, and we need to do that at Regionals. Since we never actually got the chance to perform individually with ballads," he quickly glance at Quinn and Finn, "Not that there was anything wrong with that, you guys actually rocked that ballad!" Everyone interrupted with cheering and high-fives here, "But, we're going to try again. So, I've got the hat back, and let's pick names! It's going to be guys picking out a girls name, since we're going to do love songs, ok?"

Artie and Tina blushed bright-red, and looked everywhere but at each other.

"Ok, Finn, you're up first," Mr. Schue beamed at him expectantly.

Finn grabbed a slip of paper out of the hat, not really caring who he got. "Rachel!" he said enthusiastically.

Puck went next, "Mercedes."

"Again?" Mercedes humphed, "Mr. Schue, what is going on?"

Mr. Schue grinned, "The fates have spoken."

Mike went up to pick, "Brittany!" he squealed. "Um," he coughed, "Brittany," he grunted. Everyone laughed.

Kurt went next, "Quinn."

Artie was holding his breath. Out of all the girls that had been picked, Tina hadn't yet. And if Mike didn't pick her next, that would mean he'd be with her. Having to sing her a _love _song. He rolled his chair forward, determined to go next and lessen those odds.

Mercedes who was sitting next to him noticed him starting to move forward, and kicked Matt on the other side to go ahead of her, simultaneously grabbing Artie's hand. "Oh, Wheels, you just ran over my toes," she groaned.

Artie stopped, looking puzzled, he hadn't felt his chair move. "Sorry 'Cedes, you ok?"

At the same time, Matt had bounded up to the hat and grabbed the slip of paper, "Santana."

"Awesome," Mr. Schue beamed, "So that means you," he looked at Artie, "And Tina are together. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out what songs you guys want to sing, but remember it has to be a _love_ song. We'll present on Monday, any one want to go first?"

Nobody volunteered, not even Rachel which was astounding, instead becoming suddenly very interested in their hands.

"Okaaaay," he dragged the word out slowly.

Mercedes quickly flicked Artie on the head, "Ow!" Artie squeaked, and looked at Mercedes.

"Thanks Artie, you and Tina can go first!" Mr. Schue beamed, "I'll see you guys on Monday!"

Artie gaped, and looked back at Mercedes accusingly. She shrugged back at him. "What, you had a fly on your head."

Everyone started filing out the room with their respective partners, talking about their song choice. As usual, Tina waited for Artie, as he didn't accidentally want to run over anyone's toes. She seemed to be intently gazing at her bag though while waiting for him, not making any small talk like she usually did.

"You alright Tee?" he smiled awkwardly at her.

She turned to him startled and gave a small laugh. "Um, yeah, just thinking about the assignment."

"I don't know why Mr. Schue keeps getting us to sing love songs lately," Artie rolled his eyes and smiled, "I think he's got it bad for Miss. Pillsbury," he whispered conspiratorially. After Sectionals, the news of Mr. Schue getting a divorce from Mrs. Schue had made it's way around the school, and everyone knew that Miss. Pillsbury only had eyes for Mr. Schue.

Tina grinned back at him, "Quite possibly."

Tina slipped her knapsack on the back of Artie's chair and began pushing him out of the room. "So, any ideas for what song we're going to sing?" she asked casually.

Artie frowned. Definitely not one of the assignments that was going to be easy to complete. But then again, when were _any_ of Mr. Schue's assignments easy to complete? First the mash-up (although it was a lot of fun), then the "Bust a Move" mash-up, and the list kept going.

But he wouldn't have minded it so much at the early stages of Glee, and he definitely wouldn't have minded it with someone else. It was one thing to sing a love song to a friend or someone when you knew what you weren't singing was real. But it was an entirely different thing to sing a love song to someone you loved, and you didn't want them to know that.

He knew that Tina knew he loved her as his best-friend, after all, you can't be best friends with someone for over 4 years and _not_ love each other as best friends, but he'd never actually told her he loved her as anything more. He just couldn't do it. It was hard enough asking her out on that first date, let alone telling her that he loved her as more than a friend.

* * *

Tina gazed into the distance while she was waiting for Artie to respond to her question. She had loved Artie since she had met him in Grade 8, and they'd been through everything together. It wasn't long before that love turned into something more, and she had known even at Grade 8 that her life wouldn't be the same without him in it.

But telling him that? She had never been that confident of a person, she stuttered for 5 years after all because she was so nervous. It wasn't as though she was one of those people who automatically knew that they could fit in in any situation, or be anything, or do anything that they wanted to do.

She loved Glee club, and she loved singing. But singing to her best friend – who she had only just got back – and singing her true feelings to him, when he would realize that? Definitely not her idea of what she wanted to do.

What she wanted to do was forget those feelings ever existed because it was highly unlikely that they could ever be anything more than friends again. She had screwed things up royally, and she'd rather have him in her life as her best friend than nothing.

She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of her musings, and poked Artie in the back. "Artie, you still home?" she gently teased him.

He smiled back at her, taking her breath away as usual. "Just thinking," he frowned, "Remind me, what exactly did Mr. Schue say about this assignment?"

"All he said was it had to be a love song," she hurried quickly over the 'love.'

"But he didn't say what kind of love, did he?" Artie smiled.

She smiled back at him, her heart sinking. Of course he would do anything to get out of singing a song about romantic love with her. "Nope," she tried her hardest to smile back at him.

"Want to sing a song about friend-love?" he grinned.

"Sure," she said lightly, knowing that if she said anything more about it, that her voice would crack.

She didn't notice his frown that she had agreed so quickly, not even attempting to change his mind.

* * *

_Monday_

"Alright guys!" Mr. Schue clapped his hands together excitedly. "I'm sure you guys are going to rock today, and to kick off, we have Artie and Tina!" The rest of the group clapped and cheered. He went to the back and took a seat with the rest of the club.

Tina took a deep breath, taking a microphone as Artie grabbed his guitar and settled it on his lap.

She started singing.

_You've got a friend in me  
You've got a friend in me  
When the road looks rough ahead  
_

Artie took over.

_And you're miles and miles  
From your nice warm bed  
Just remember what your old pal said  
Boy, you've got a friend in me  
_

They both joined in, smiling at each other softly.

_You've got a friend in me  
You've got a friend in me  
You've got a friend in me  
_

Tine took over.

_You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too  
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you  
We stick together and we see it through  
You've got a friend in me  
You've got a friend in me  
_

Tina stopped, and Artie took over again.

_Some other folks might be  
A little bit smarter than I am  
Bigger and stronger too  
Maybe  
_

They both joined back in.

_But none of them will ever love you the way I do  
It's me and you  
And as the years go by  
Boys, our friendship will never die  
You're gonna see  
It's our destiny  
You've got a friend in me  
You've got a friend in me  
You've got a friend in me_

Artie and Tina finished softly, and the girls discreetly wiped at their eyes with tissues. The boys stretched with their arms over their heads, trying to secretly rub their eyes. At the last note, everyone stood up and cheered. Artie and Tina blushed, and gave each other high-fives.

Mr. Schue came down from the risers, "Awesome work guys!" He stood awkwardly, trying to avoid the rest of the looks the group was giving him. "Who's next?"

The rest of the couples sang their songs, each one a love song. When the last group (Rachel and Finn) finished, Mr. Schue stood up. "Great job today guys! I think we may be including some of these songs for Regionals, especially some about friend love," he teasingly winked at Artie and Tina, "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Everyone left and Artie and Tina were left alone in the room again. They slowly walked out after everyone had gone and discussed who's songs might be selected for regionals. They didn't notice the sets of eyes watching them as they left.

* * *

While Tina and Artie had been performing, Mercedes discreetly texted everyone in the group. **Meeting in the 2****nd**** floor stairwell closed to the Spanish class after Glee.** She had received subtle nods from everyone and as soon as Mr. Schue said rehearsal was over, they had run out as fast as they could, trying to avoid Artie or Tina seeing them. Rachel had grabbed Mr. Schue's arm on the way out and was pulling him along with them.

They finally made it to the 2nd floor, and the rest of the group slowly started trickling in. Mike, Matt, Puck and Finn had walked all the way around the school, glancing at everyone suspiciously with Mike and Matt whistling the James Bond theme. They had finally made it there after many forward rolls down the hallway, 'evading' other people.

Quinn, Santana and Brittany soon found their way there after taking a short-cut through the gym.

Finally, they were all there, including Mr. Schue, looking immensely guilty. They all stared at him with their hand on their hips, and he looked away, pretending to be very interested in what was going on outside.

"Fine," Kurt said, "Since no one else will say it, I will. Mr. Schuester, what happened?!"

Mr. Schue turned around slowly, and held his palms up in defense, "Look, it was the _perfect_ plan. I kept Tina's name out of the hat until it was Artie's turn to pick. And then I said they had to sing a _love_ song. I didn't think I had to be any clearer than that!" he ended on a high note.

Rachel shook her head, "It was a good plan Mr. Schue," she said sympathetically, "Just, the carrying out of the plan needed to be done a little better."

"So," Mercedes said smugly, "Since Mr. Schue's plan failed, I believe it's up to me and Kurt, correct?" she looked around the rest of the group, daring anyone to defy her.

Mike put his hand up and started to speak up, "Well, actually-" he ended with an yelp as Matt elbowed him in the side. He looked at Mercedes evil glare, "Yes, what I was saying, is it is indeed your turn to plan!" he ended quickly.

"That's what I thought," she said pointedly. "Now, it was an okay plan Mr. Schue, but now they're both convinced that the other one will only want them as a friend, so we need to correct that. Me and Kurt," she turned and gave him a fist-bump, "Have been working on Plan Tartie for awhile now, just in case anything happened," she said defensively, looking at the other members.

Kurt took over quickly, "We are ready to instigate Plan Tartie, but we need some help. Specifically, boys, you're going to be with me. Girls, you're with Mercedes. Good luck team, you'll all need it!" he ended dramatically, pushing his bangs back with one hand.

* * *

What are those sneaky kids up to now? Remember, reviews=love.


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